Bullfighting

Bullfighting is cruel

Bullfighting is perhaps the most well known spectator “sport” involving the killing of animals for entertainment. For British tourists in the 1970s and 1980s, going to a bullfight was almost seen as a ‘must do’ part of a holiday in Spain. But gradually the awareness of what actually happens at a bullfight has increased, ripping away the idea that bullfighting is ‘art’ and exposing it for the cruel sport that it really is.

Public opinion in each bullfighting country and elsewhere is now firmly behind banning bullfighting, and it has already been banned in most countries. But it still continues in nine countries - each year tens of thousands of bulls are maimed, tortured and killed for entertainment in Spain, Portugal, France, Colombia, Mexico, USA, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.

What is a bullfight?

Bullfighting involves professional performers (generally called in Spanish toreros or matadores, in Portuguese toureiros and in French toreadors) who perform in a bullring executing various formal moves with the goal of appearing graceful and confident, while masterful and domineering over the bull. These manoeuvres are performed at close range, concluding (in Spanish-style bullfighting) with the death of the bull by a sword thrust.

There are several styles of bullfighting, but in a typical Spanish style bullfight, the animal is attacked by men on foot and on horseback with lances and barbed harpoons called “banderillas”. The matador forces the confused, exhausted and injured bull to make a few charges before eventually attempting to kill it with a sword. If not killed outright, the animal is stabbed in the back of the neck with a dagger until it is paralysed and finally dies. The animal may still be conscious when its ears or tail are cut off and given as a trophy to the bullfighter who killed it.

The French and Portuguese styles are sometimes called ‘bloodless bullfights’. Although some variations of these do not always involve the drawing of blood, the bulls are still abused, stressed and exhausted, and often still killed in private rather than in public.

However, not all bullfighting in France is of a French-style and the Spanish style is becoming more popular there. In the USA and Ecuador some other types of so called “bloodless bullfights” have been developed, but we believe that they are all still cruel.

The animals involved in bullfighting suffer immensely, and all in the name of human entertainment, with a false claim that this public torture or execution has become ‘art’ and ‘cultural heritage’ that needs preserving . The League campaigns for a complete ban on this cruel and outdated sport, in each country and in any of its forms, including the so-called “bloodless bullfights”.

Bull Running Festivals

The ‘running of the bulls’ is a practice which involves letting loose bulls or cows to run with and in front of jeering crowds along a designated route to their final destination, often the bull ring.

These events happen in many countries and take many forms, some of which involve the use of ropes, fire or water. The bull run for the San Fermin fiesta in Pamplona (North Spain) is the most famous of these events, attracting thousands of international tourists each year.

The Pamplona Bull Run

The Pamplona Bull Run takes place every year between the 6th July and 14th July. It’s a sad fact that many participants will be British tourists, as well as Americans, Europeans, Australians and New Zealanders. Thanks to the promotion of this cruelty from travel operators, some of whom are based in the UK, tourism is helping to keep this brutal and outdated tradition alive.

Even though the fiesta is often described by tour operators as ‘a spectacle not to be missed’, the harsh reality is that the spectacle they are referring to is based on savagery and cruelty, with no regard for the welfare of the animals at the centre of the attention.

But sadly not all travel operators have followed suit. We are disappointed that in 2017, First Festival, PP Travel, Festival Adventures, The Backpacker Tour Company and Stoke Travel, still continue to promote this animal cruelty and have chosen to ignore our requests to cease promotion and sales to the festival.

Have you spotted any other travel companies promoting the Pamplona Bull Run? Tourism is propping up this archaic ‘tradition’, but together we can help bring in to an end.

If you have seen any companies promoting this brutal event online, in travel brochures or in-flight magazines then we want to hear from you. Please get in contact and send us links, please take a photo of the magazine or other promotional material you see, and send it to us with as much information about it you can (such as the company promoting it, where and when you found it, etc).

What happens during the Pamplona Running of the Bulls?

Each morning many bulls are forced to run a kilometre down the cobblestone streets of the town, chased by cheering participants and spectators. Once released, the bulls are frightened with gun shots and kicked and hit by jeering spectators, often down concrete or cobbled streets which they slip and slide on, occasionally suffering broken legs and other injuries in the process.

The bulls are chased into a holding pen at the bull ring, to await their deaths at the bullfights, during the ‘corrida de toros’ that take place later that evening.

Time to end bullfighting

The pro-bullfighting lobby would have us believe the ritualised execution of a condemned bull is ‘art and culture, a magical rite, a just and honourable way of life where man and bull combine to create unique and unrepeatable moments’. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Recently YouTube closed down channels devoted to Spain’s national fiesta, removing content showing bloody scenes of bulls being lanced by picadors, which it publicly categorised as animal abuse.

The international anti-bullfighting movement is growing in strength every year, and many local, regional or national bans have already been achieved. From the 18 autonomic regions of Spain, bullfighting has already been banned in two, the Canary Islands and Catalonia (although in the latter the Spanish Constitutional Court declared in 2016 the ban illegal, but the Catalan government has vowed to uphold the six-year old ban nevertheless).

The Balearic Islands are very close to banning bullfighting too, and Galicia is likely to follow suit. Many provinces in Ecuador have banned bullfighting after a referendum included a question about the ban, and the practice is already banned in over 90% of France.

In each and every bullfighting country public opinion polls already show a majority of the population against bullfighting, so if campaigning by the League Against Cruel Sports and many other passionate organisations continues, its abolition is near.

Latest

Positive measures to protect animals have been announced by the government today. The Animal Welfare Bill 2018 includes an increase in sentencing for animal abuse from a maximum of six months jail to five years, and also states that animal sentience must be recognised in any future laws.

Related

Hunting mammals like foxes, hares and deer is illegal in the UK. Many people however remain confused when they hear terms like ‘trail hunting’, ‘drag hunting’ and ‘exempt hunting’. This page explains what these terms mean.

Race horses are being fatally injured on a regular basis at race-courses all over the UK. The high numbers of injuries and fatalities of horses involved in horse racing has led many to call for the most gruelling races to be banned.

The hidden side of greyhound racing includes dogs kept for long periods in lonely kennels, painful injuries from racing and training, illness and neglect. Shockingly, thousands of surplus dogs die or disappear every year. The League believes dogs should not suffer or die for entertainment or for the profit of the dog racing industry.

Trophy hunting is the stalking and killing of wild animals with guns or bows and arrows with the purpose of obtaining part of the animal as a trophy. This multi-million pound international industry is utterly unjustifiable and it is pushing some of the world's most threatened species toward extinction.

Much of the debate over hunting with dogs focuses on foxes, yet hares and deer are also traditionally hunted in a similar way. In fact, before the Hunting Act was passed, one third of hunts in Britain targeted brown hares with packs of beagles, basset hounds and harriers.

Deer hunting is less well known than fox hunting, but while currently only three registered hunts chase red deer with hounds in England, this practice inflicts some of the greatest cruelty wild animals suffer at the hands of people.

Most read

As a team, we share the same passion – to stop animal cruelty in the name of sport. We are a tight knit team and we work hard within a fun, relaxed environment. We also offer something many employers don’t – an office full of friendly dogs!

Hunting was banned in England and Wales in 2004, but the law has never been properly enforced, and attempts to weaken or repeal it continue. The hunting law in Scotland is weak, and hunting is still legal in Northern Ireland.

Hurting and killing animals for ‘sport’ is one of the principal causes of animal cruelty in the UK: tens of millions suffer and die each year for ‘leisure’ activities. We’re here to protect those animals.

Bullfighting is perhaps the most well known spectator “sport” involving the killing of animals for entertainment. It has already been banned in most countries, but each year tens of thousands of bulls are maimed, tortured and killed for entertainment in Spain, Portugal, France, Colombia, Mexico, USA, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.

The hidden side of greyhound racing includes dogs kept for long periods in lonely kennels, painful injuries from racing and training, illness and neglect. Shockingly, thousands of surplus dogs die or disappear every year. The League believes dogs should not suffer or die for entertainment or for the profit of the dog racing industry.

The Hunting Act 2004 is the law which bans chasing wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales – this basically means that fox hunting, deer hunting, hare hunting, hare coursing and mink hunting are all illegal, as they all are cruel sports based on dogs chasing wild mammals.